Herb’s posted an undefeated record (5-0) to claim the title trophy in the NSA Class AA World Series Aug. 28-30 at the Indianapolis Sports & Fitness Center. Herb’s outlasted Long Haul 56-54 in a second-round matchup, then ran into Long Haul again in the finals. The score this time was 44-27. In the first meeting, Herb’s roared into a 29-3 lead, then had to survive a 22-run outburst by Long Haul in the bottom of the seventh. Herb’s was a 58-57 winner over Reece/TPS of Lebanon, Tenn., in the winners bracket finals when Jeff Smith homered to lead off the bottom of the seventh. Reece then was eliminated 50-29 by Long Haul. The MVP selection was veteran Jamie Wisham of Herb’s. He batted .828 (24-for-29). Jacques Millier of fourth-place Tiger/ChecKing/AirTransat, led in home runs with 17 (in 8 games). Herb’s other pace-setters included Jon Meyers at .812, Dan Zenovka .774, P. J. Jones .760, Glenn Dolezal .742, Ed Starcher .727, Smith .710 and George Sampson .704. Smith and Don Copelan each had 9 homers, while teammates Dolezal, Starcher and Sampson each had 7. Wisham, Meyers and Zenovka each had 5 HRs in Herb’s balanced attack. Long Haul leaders included Mike Brodzinski at .821, Rob Darhower at .800, Tim Magner at .795, Ted Larson at .765, Mike Stanley at .730 and Butch Smith at .724. Magner and Doug Johnson each had 8 homers, while Smith and Chaun Demars each had 7 and Stanley and Dan Houchin 6 each. Pete Roberts of Central Paving chalked up a remarkable average of 1.000. He was 20-for-20. Millier and Tiger teammate Dave Koser turned in .857 and .853 averages, respectively, while Joe Ambrose of Joe Black’s was at .842. Jan Moss of Central and Rick Jackson of N.A.S.T.Y. Boys were at .833. Brett Helmer, a Tiger pick-up from the Wessel/Hague team, totaled 15 home runs. Mike Lane of N.A.S.T.Y. had 12, Moss 11 and Brian Justice of Reece 10. Smith and Copelan of Herb’s, Keith Brady of Reece and Dennis Turner of N.A.S.T.Y. each had 9 HRs. There were upsets aplenty. Chase was stunned with an 0-2 record. Chase lost first to a Class A team, K&G/TPS of North Vernon, Ind., 30-29, when K&G scored 13 runs in the bottom of the seventh. The other loss was 16-14 to Ultimate Sports, another Class A team from Indianapolis. Gar King, an Indiana native who plays regularly with Resmondo/Sod of Florida, won the game with a home run. JWM won one game, then was upset 40-32 by Central Paving and 30-29 by California rival RPM. Planet/New, fourth-place finisher in the ISA, was 1-2 too, losing 27-23 to Joe Black’s/Lattof/TPS of Chicago and 22-20 to a Class A team, Mercer Machine of Indianapolis. Backstop and N.A.S.T.Y. Boys, a surprising third in the ISA, each went 2-2 and wound up in a tie for 13th. Backstop lost to Reece 38-30, then was eliminated 53-31 by K&G. N.A.S.T.Y. lost to Long Haul 35-33, then was ousted 54-43 by Tiger. The “Boys” scored almost 200 runs in four games, winning one game by 63-25 in 4 innings and another by 54-33. Herb’s and Tiger met in an early round, with Herb’s winning 40-37. Herb’s other win was over B&A of Cincinnati (43-13). B&A, a Class A team, drew a bye, then got a forfeit before upsetting Central Paving 35-30 on the strength of a 26-run top of the first. B&A tied for fifth with Joe Black’s. Tied for seventh were Gasoline Heaven and Central Paving. Tied for ninth were RPM, K&G, Mercer and Jett Door of Houston. T’s 13 of Nebraska and Galyan’s of Indianapolis were in the group tied for 13th — with Backstop and N.A.S.T.Y. Gil’s Arizona Heat of Phoenix was another team that suffered an 0-2 fate. Gil’s drew Backstop and lost 25-18, then ran into Tiger in the losers bracket and lost 31-10.RPM was eliminated 44-36 by Gasoline Heaven, which then was ousted by Tiger 25-20.
